Sri Lanka is considering setting up regional safety training for the oil and gas industry following the discovery of gas in its offshore waters, Lanka Business Online has reported.

Saliya Wickramasuriya, the island's Director General of Petroleum Resources Development, said safety training is an important requirement for the oil industry “which is heavily regulated”, she said.

“The oil and gas industry is becoming possibly the third most heavily regulated industry, after the airline and pharmaceutical industries”, Wickramasuriya told a forum on new business opportunities arising out of oil exploration in Sri Lanka held by the National Chamber of Commerce.

The oil industry is new for Sri Lanka and has thrown up opportunities to provide Training in Quality, Health, Safety and Environment, known as QHSE training, he said.

"The government is having negotiations on opening a regional safety training centre here in Sri Lanka dedicated to the oil and gas industry," he said.

“Such a centre could become a resource pool that would help the island meets its own need for professionals in the developing oil and gas industry”, said Wickramasuriya.

Sri Lanka is getting prepared for its own oil and gas industry after Cain India found gas in two test wells in the Mannar Basin last year; a third well was found dry.